Sinful Embers (Vegas Bratva Kings #2)

11. LEIGH

Chapter 11

LEIGH

Desire.

It snakes through my veins, slow and smoldering, awakening me from the depths of slumber into a world clouded with intoxication. A soft exhale of breath grazes my ear, warm and familiar. A voice—deep, jagged, and saturated with possession.

"Leigh."

The mattress beneath me shifts as moves over me. A firm hand cups the nape of my neck, the rough fingers extending down to my shoulder, thumb caressing the sensitive skin just below my ear. A delightful shiver races down my spine, accumulating between my legs.

"You're safe now," Radomir murmurs, his lips gently brushing against my temple. "It's over."

I release a breath I didn't realize I was holding. My fingers dig into his bare chest, feeling the solid muscle beneath my palm, the familiar scent of him—spicy musk—surrounding me like a second skin.

He's here. He found me.

"Where are Carlos and Timir?" I whisper.

"They're dead," he snarls, his voice dark with promise. "They'll never hurt you again."

A sob of relief begins to rise in my throat, but Radomir silences it with his mouth. His lips crash against mine, as his tongue intertwines with mine in an eager dance. His body is heavy and warm as he presses me down into the thin mattress, his muscular form encasing me.

"Radomir," I gasp as he bites my lower lip gently, tugging it between his teeth before easing the sting with his tongue. “I’m so glad you’re here. I thought you’d never find me.”

"I’ll always find you, Leigh.” His voice is thick with passion. “I told you, you’re mine now; I’ll never let anyone take you from me again.”

"Yes, I’m yours," I breathe. "Always."

His growl of satisfaction vibrates against my throat as his mouth ventures lower, leaving soft, tender kisses down my collarbone and over my naked chest. His calloused hands cup my breasts, thumbs grazing gently over my already hardened nipples.

I arch into him, desperate for more, yearning for the unique friction only he can provide. He doesn't make me wait. His mouth envelops one sensitive peak, sucking gently while his other hand slips between my thighs. His fingers glide over the damp heat between my legs, and I let out a cry.

"You’re so fucking wet for me," he growls against my skin. "I need to be inside you, Leigh."

"Yes," I whimper, rocking against his hand. "Please, Radomir."

He moves swiftly, tearing my panties down my legs and positioning himself between my thighs. His erection is thick and rigid, the tip teasingly probing at my entrance. My nails dig into his back as I brace myself.

He enters me with one forceful thrust.

A sharp gasp escapes from my throat as he fills me entirely, stretching me, taking possession of me in the way only he can. My body clenches around him, needy and insatiable.

"Damn," he groans, his fingers gripping my hips so tightly that I know there will be bruises. "You feel perfect, Leigh. So tight."

He begins to move then, setting a relentless rhythm. Each stroke is powerful and deep, pulling me higher and higher into blissful oblivion.

"Does that feel good, baby?" he growls, his breath hot against my ear

"Yes," I choke out. "Yes."

“Did you miss me? Did you miss feeling my cock slamming deep inside your tight pussy?” He impales himself inside of me with intensity.

“Yes, yes, please, please, give it to me harder.” I’m desperate to reach the summit as my hips gyrate in time to his. “I need you so much.”

He leans forward his teeth nipping my neck. The pleasure intensifies like a wildfire, spiraling out of control as his thrusts become harder—faster hitting that secret spot inside me. My body clenches around him as an orgasm engulfs me like a ferocious storm.

"Rad—" My cry is stifled by his mouth as he claims my lips in a passionate kiss, his hips continuing their relentless motion, pursuing his own release.

But then—

Something shifts.

The air around us changes.

Radomir's hands tighten on my wrists, yanking them above my head. His body stiffens, no longer warm, and I no longer feel safe with him. His deep blue eyes darken, filling with something cold and merciless.

I blink up at him in confusion, my post-orgasmic haze dissipating.

"Radomir?" I whisper.

The world around me shatters.

The bed disappears. The warm sheets vanish.

Suddenly, I’m cold. Exposed.

I'm no longer beneath Radomir.

I'm bent over a cold silver table, my bare skin pressed against the unforgiving surface. My arms are stretched wide, wrists shackled to the metal. My ankles are locked to the floor, my legs spread apart, leaving me utterly vulnerable.

"What did you do, Leigh?" His voice is razor-sharp, slicing through my skin like a blade. "I know it was you."

Panic explodes inside me. Radomir forces my chin onto a rest that looks like one of those you put your legs in for a gynecological exam.

He shoves his cock that is straining against his cotton pants into my face, laughing and his voice has now changed. It’s rougher with a hint of a Russian accent.

“There. That’s just the right height for my cock to slide into that lying mouth of yours.”

“Why are you doing this?” Confusion and fear flood through me.

"You have their blood on your hands." His breath is hot against my ear as he leans beside next to it to whisper. "You know what that means for you. Especially in my world.”

“What did I do?” I cry it’s getting harder to speak in this position.

He moves around behind me, and he forces my legs apart. I feel hard clamps lock my legs in place. The gold hard metal table pushes painfully into my belly and my hips.

My belly! My baby!

“Please, you’re hurting me,”

“Karma’s a bitch!” He laughs behind me and again it doesn’t sound familiar to me. “You hurt them and now it’s your turn to hurt and pay for what you’ve done.”

I try to turn my head, but the chin rest keeps me from doing it.

"No," I shake my head frantically. "No, it wasn’t me. I didn’t—"

No. No, no, no. This can’t be happening. Radomir said he’d keep me safe.

I struggle, my breathing ragged.

Radomir’s voice is distant, echoing around me like a cruel specter. "This is what we do to liars, thieves, and murderers in my world who kill one of our own."

Terror surges through me like a wildfire.

"No," I rasp, my throat raw. While my mind can’t grasp what he’s talking about it’s like my subconscious does as I’m racked with guilt and drowning in confusion at the same time. "Please—I didn’t—it wasn’t like you think—" I’m not sure what I’m saying or why I’m saying them, but it feels right.

"Shut up, you fucking lying, murdering whore," he snaps. He runs his hand down my naked spine, over my buttocks and rubs his pants covered cock against my exposed crack. He runs his fingers over my clit. "You’re sopping wet.” He leans over my back. “Did you enjoy it? Did it make you feel good?"

"No," I sob. "No, please, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I didn’t know. I swear to God, I didn’t know!"

"It’s too late for you," his voice is final. "The blood has been spilled."

Panic claws up my throat.

"I didn’t—" My voice is hoarse, shaking. "What if I’m having your baby?"

Silence.

Then—his laughter.

Cold. Mocking.

"I’ll keep the baby," he sneers. "But you’ll meet the same fate as my father, my uncle… and your mother."

"She was never my mother!" I scream, my entire body trembling. Images of a knife slicing down my top and yanking my shirt open flashes through me. I instantly know I was in danger. "She was going to hurt me. They were all going to hurt me!"

Vivienne’s voice slithers through the darkness and her face moves down to see me. "You’re still part of me, Leigh. You can never escape it. You hurt them. It was your fault. You shouldn’t have stolen from me."

"No," I whisper, but the word feels meaningless.

"Tell the truth, Leigh," Radomir’s voice commands. "You killed them."

A shadow looms in front of me.

A woman.

Judy.

Her face is pale, her expression empty, but her eyes—her eyes burn with betrayal.

"I was hurt because of you," she says, her voice eerily calm. "Tied to the table like you are now. Raped, beaten, brutalized. Because of you."

Tears choke my throat. "Judy, no. I didn’t know. I swear, I didn’t know."

Another figure steps forward.

A man—his body covered in open wounds, blood seeping from the whip marks. His skin is torn, raw, as if he’s been flayed alive.

Viktor.

Oh, God.

"You let her do this to me," he rasps, his voice barely above a whisper. "I was whipped until my skin split. Raped. Forced to watch as the love of my life was brutalized." He grabs my hair painfully forcing my chin a little higher, my throat cutting into the hard chin rest. “It doesn’t fee good to be betrayed, does it? I doesn’t feel good to lie and keep the truth from people”

“I didn’t know the truth.” My voice is muffled because my air is being cut off from the awkward angle of my head. My stomach wrenches violently. “It was locked away in my mind. I didn’t know.! I’m sorry—I’m so sorry!"

Just like that Viktor drops my head on to be replaced by a cold clammy hand gripping onto my jaw, forcing my head up once again.

Vivienne’s cruel face fills my vision.

"Don’t lie, you little parasite," she hisses. "You enjoyed it, didn’t you? Watching them suffer?"

"No! That’s why you enjoy, you fucking sadistic whore!”

Thwack! Her palm stings my cheek.

“I’m nothing like you!" I scream, fighting back the tears. I won’t let this bitch see me cry. I won’t let her see me beg. I’ll die before I give her that satisfaction and repeat vehemently, “I’m nothing like you.”

She laughs, the sound jagged and sharp.

"Then how do you explain this?"

The room changes again.

I’m twelve years old and no longer on the cold hard table. I’m wearing jeans and my favorite yellow and pink T-shirt, but it’s been cut open in the front slicing through my brand new training bra exposing my young breasts. I want to cover up, but I can’t. I have no control on the scene unfolding—I’m just a passenger in the mind of a twelve year old me looking through the terrified eyes of younger me—living a memory through a nightmare.

While I have no physical control here, I can feel everything she does like something heavy in my hands. I look down it’s a gun.

Again the world swirls and I hear a blast ring in my ears and echo through the dungeon vibrating through my hands and up my arms.

My eyes scan the room, and my breath catches in my throat seeing the two bodies lying motionless on the floor.

Gunther Mirochin and Vladimir Molchanov.

I stare down at them, my small hands shaking, the gun still warm in my grip. I know I should be horrified but all I can feel is relief—relief that there are two less monsters in the world

Vivienne’s laughter echoes in my skull.

"Tell me again, Leigh," she taunts. "Tell me you’re nothing like me. Tell me it doesn’t feel good taking down those monsters.”

I suck in a breath and—

I scream myself awake: “I’M NOTHING LIKE YOU! NOTHING!”

Sitting bolt upright in the dark cell, my heart hammering, my stomach churning.

Tears streak down my cheeks. My hands tremble as I press them against my face.

For a long moment, I struggle to breathe, to remember where I am.

But the truth slams into me like a wrecking ball as just like that the door to the overflowing closet of my suppressed memories bursts open.

I remember.

I remember everything.

A cold, hollow weight settles in my chest as I press a trembling hand to my stomach. It’s still too soon to know for certain, but deep in my gut, I feel it. There’s a little life growing inside me—Radomir’s baby.

But that won’t change anything for me—not now that I know the truth and it won’t be long before Radomir and his family figure it out.

Desperation spurts through me— I have to get out of here.

I have to run as fast and as far as I can then disappear.

But it’s not just from Timir and Carlos.

But from Radomir and his cousins.

Because now I know—they’ve been hunting the wrong person for ten years.

It’s not the Greek Matriarch they want.

It’s me.

I’m the one with Radomir’s father and uncle’s blood on my hands.

And when he finds out—

There will be no mercy. No forgiveness.

Not even our baby can save me.